modular has a booking agency who looks after both my acts in australia and i used to drunkenly hassle people about it. i think the first time i heard someone tell me they'd heard 8 new avalanches tracks was in early 2008 and while i believe that person to be in a position at modular to be in on such a listening, i wouldn't have a clue if any of those are now on a album.

i haven't heard anything in many months but i stopped asking long ago so who knows, when i did happen to ask anyone throughout 2009 even modular employees hadn't really heard a thing, except that it did exist in some state and was being worked on by both the label at some level and the band. towards the end people did seem to think it was actually in a sample clearing process, but the fact that label employees didn't really know anything solid could be a bad omen.

my gut would be to trust that it'll be out sometime late this year but i haven't been waiting half as long as some of you guys, so maybe my cynicism hasn't been tempered by the taste of disappointment yet

the latest Australian Rolling Stone magazine has an article (or review, can't remember) on Sally Seltmann's new record. She's going under her own name these days, post-Fiest on Sesame Street and all. Anyway, it mentions in brief throwaway style that Sally gave birth to her first child, to husband Darren Seltmann, in 2008.

two points:

1) Remember a few months ago I hypothesised that family could be taking priority for The Avalanches?

2)Much respect for any recording artist who keeps their private life truly private, as these two manage to do.

Whoa whoa whoa......MAJOR news much? A spoiler on cameo appearances AND a status report? That one little half a sentence is more info than we have had in yEARS!!!! Can anyone confirm or comment on this? This is HUGE!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!

The new Ariel Pink album is fantastic, this is awesome news, thanks Clint. That's about as much confirmation as were gonna get for now i think, and more than enough to get me pretty damn excited. Now I'm left wondering what type of album they've gone and put together.. Summer in Aus with a new Avs record, it couldn't get any better than that, my fingers are crossed.

Cool news Clint!! And classily delivered, too. It even got relayed on P-fork. I wonder why they didn't report some years ago when word of Luke Steele doing vocals for the Avs came up?

Mind you, Luke Steele has had his finger in enough pies since then (2005ish?) I reckon. Maybe the album has changed since then and Luke no longer fits. I sure hope so - that guy is a jerk!!

And remember the PATTON/Avs collab? I emailed his label about it and they replied that The Avalanches never appeared on his collaboration albums because "They didn't get their stuff in on time." Easy to believe!!

Here's a humble prediction: Van Dyke Parkes will guest on the Avs album in some way. 1) He seems to keep close ties with the Seltmanns (check New Buffalo albums) and 2) The Avalanches are on record as saying they envisioned VDP as the vocalist for "Since I Left You" way back when.

Yeah ... I have to admit that after learning that the Seltmanns are now based in Sydney (where Sally is originally from and was involved in bands like Lustre4 and SPDFGH) i felt my unwaivering faith .. well, waiver. ever so slightly.

Plenty of creative partners live 1000s of miles apart (Animal Collective?) but still, it can't help speed up proceedings.

Also Darren Seltmann seems to be the drummer in Sally Seltmann's current touring band. He's sporting a repulsive mo at the moment.